Heathfield Music Scholars and enthusiasts enjoyed a wonderful evening concert at London’s Cadogan Hall on 11 November with a mixed programme of familiar and unfamiliar French and American vocal, choral and orchestral items, expertly performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the City of London Choir under the baton of conductor Daniel Hyde.
The concert began with a spellbinding performance of Lili Boulanger’s Psalm 24, followed by Samuel Barber’s well-loved Adagio. The orchestra then turned back to France for Bizet’s L’Arlésienne: Suite No.1, which famously features the French horns in the Carillon, imitating the peal of bells throughout. Knoxville, Barber’s tender memoir of a vanished youth highlighted the soprano soloist’s outstanding vocal prowess and was followed by an orchestral version of Debussy’s beautiful moonlit serenade Clair de Lune.
The final work, Poulenc’s Gloria, about which one of the composer’s contemporaries said, “sacred music was never meant to be this much fun!” lived up to that description in its huge, irreverent shout of joy, bringing a truly inspiring evening of music to a jubilant close.
The students all agreed that this had been a truly uplifting experience.
